Tuesday, November 24, 2015

Keeping Christmas by Dan Walsh

Title: Keeping
Christmas

Author: Dan Wlash

Pages: 224

Year: 2015

Publisher: Revell

My rating is 5 stars.

What are some holiday traditions you grew up with or do now
with your family? For me, when I was
little we would have dinner, choose one present to open and then go to midnight
Mass, return home and then in the morning open gifts. Our family at one time was big with lots of
extended members and friends who would gather in my parents’ home and what fun
we would have! What great memories! Now
many of them are gone and sometimes the holidays are bittersweet, remembering
the best of times and yet a smaller family unit.

Life changes for all of us and in the book Dan Walsh shares
a tale of parents who are not only empty nesters, but unlike previous holidays
their kids cannot travel to be with them this year. Judith, who is their mom, enters a time of
depression and cannot seem to shake it though she prays for God to help her
move forward. Her husband Stan doesn’t
seem to be as affected because he likes the quiet to watch football or just put
his feet up.

Yet was Judith seems so different than the woman Stan has
been married to for decades plus noticing that nothing he has done helps, Stan
makes a bold decision. Stan’s plan is an example as to how to touch
the heart of your soul mate, and he touched his grown children’s lives
too! Above all, Stan is changed as he is
convicted about choices he has made for years that need to be changed in the present
if he is going to have a happy spouse.

I don’t want to ruin the book for you by telling you all
that occurs. I would love for you to
discover the joy for yourself when you read the novel. Make special memories now and be open to
making new memories as time goes by and life brings changes that sometimes are
hard. Look around you and see if there
isn’t someone you can touch with the love of God, both inside your home and
outside. Pray and see if God doesn’t
show you who He wants you to reach out to during the holidays.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received one or more of the products or
services mentioned above for free in the hope that I would mention it on my
blog. Regardless, I only recommend
products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my
readers. I am disclosing this in
accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255. “Guides
Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

Why we do what we do

When this blog began it was during a time of raising my sons and care taking for ailing inlaws. Before those seasons ended this blog morphed into writing reviews and interviewing authors. With the constant change in the Christian publishing industry and our society, our purpose expanded.

With my girlfriend coming alongside, we review all sorts of novels, hunting for sound stories. While there are a couple genres we will not review for several reasons, we remain open to looking into new opportunities to read and share about good books!

In all of what we do we aim to bring glory to God and Christ Jesus in the ministry of blogging which we believe He has blessed us to do. We are always amazed that we get to wake up and do something with such profound joy each and everyday.